The ability to implement strategy is an important and fundamental factor in determining the success of a business. In practice, strategy implementation is a dynamic and complex process. In practice, strategy implementation is a dynamic and complex process. In this case, middle managers have a very important role to play although this is not something that is easy to implement accurately.
It is because managers use discretion when facing ambiguous and uncertain situations during the strategy implementation process. This was conveyed by promovenda Wilsa Theodore when presenting her dissertation entitled “Analysis of the Role of Organizational and Environmental Agility on Perceived Managerial Discretion, Strategy Implementation and Its Implications for Organizational Performance in a Pharmaceutical Company”, at an open doctoral promotion session held by the Postgraduate Program in Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (PPIM FEB UI).
The discretion perceived by middle managers, he said, comes from environmental factors (industry) and organizational factors. On environmental factors, markets that are perceived to be growing and dynamic and have a variety of products and services affect the discretion felt by middle managers. On organizational factors, organizations that are considered agile influence the strategic choices considered by middle managers. In addition, when managers feel that they have more discretion to act, this directly affects strategy implementation and unit performance.
In the session, Wilsa said that this research aims to investigate the role of perceived managerial discretion in the strategy implementation process and its implications on organizational performance. Discretion perceived by middle managers is formed from perceptions of environmental conditions, organizational factors (such as organizational agility) and individual characteristics (such as locus of control ). This study was conducted in the largest national pharmaceutical company in Indonesia and involved 228 marketing and sales unit leaders in the head office and branch offices.
The doctoral promotion session was chaired by Teguh Dartanto, Ph.D., with Prof. Rhenald Kasali, Ph.D., as Promoter, Dr. T. Ezni Balqiah as Co-Promoter 1, and Dr. Lily Sudhartio, Co-Promoter 2. Meanwhile, the Examination Team was chaired by Prof. Dr. Irwan Adi Ekaputra with members consisting of Irnanda Laksanawan, Ph.D., Riani Rachmawati, Ph.D., Ruslan Prijadi, Ph.D., and Sari Wahyuni, Ph.D..
The research conducted by Wilsa shows the results that perceived managerial discretion improves strategy implementation, and strategy implementation has a positive effect on organizational performance. In addition to environmental conditions, organizational agility, which is a dynamic capability of the organization, has a positive effect on perceived discretion. In the pharmaceutical industry which is part of the health sector that
is heavily regulated,the discretion that is perceived by middle managers needs to be activated by top management by ensuring that company policies and regulations as well as business strategies are synchronized with applicable laws and regulations and codes of ethics so that middle managers feelempoweredwith the existence of these regulations. On the other hand, the results of this study can be used as an additional reference on the relationship between strategy implementation and business performance. Management teams and middle managers should continue to strive for the most accurate strategy implementation possible. From the strategy implementation process, organizations can learn the factors that influence success or failure, as well as how to improve success or overcome failure. Moreover, pharmaceutical companies, as part of the health sector, have a social contract with the wider community, where successful strategy implementation in pharmaceutical companies has an influence on public health and the vision of a healthy Indonesia.
Author: Nino Eka Putra | Editor: Maudisha AR
